Cultivator



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1;

S. N. HBNOH & W. A. DROMGOLD. UULTIVATOR.

No. 348,208. w Patented Aug. 31, 1886.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

S. N. HENOH & W. A. DROMGOLD.

GULTIVATOR miwAeJ'JeJ':

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

S. N. HENGH & W. A. DROMGOL GULTIVATOR.

No: 348,208. Patented Aug. 81, 1886.

UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL N. HENCH AND \VALKER A. DROMGOLD, OF YORK, PENNSYLVANIA.

CULTIVATO R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 348,208, dated August31, 1886. Application filed June 10, 1886. Serial No. 204,708. (NoinodeLl To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, SAlliUEL N. HENCH and WALKER A. DROMGOLD, bothresiding in the city of York and State of Pennsylvania, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Oultivators,of which thefollowing is a specification.

Our invention has relation mainly to devices for regulating the pressureof the shovelbeams or drag-bars of cultivators. Heretofore it has beencustomary to use for this purpose spring pressure-rods, pinned orpivoted to upright rods or bars on the axle to which the beamsordrag-bars are secured, and acting, according as they are inclined to oneside or the other of the dead-center, to hold or tend to hold the beamsdown or up, as the case may be. Under this arrangement the greatestcompression of the springs which surround and control the pressure-rodsis at the time when the rods are on the dead-centerthat is to say, inthe straight line with the bars or rods on the axle to which they arepivotedand when the pressure-rods incline to one side or the other ofthis position the springs expand proportionately, and consequentlylosein power and efficiency. To remedy this serious defect we dispenseentirely with the hinge-j oint between the spring pressure-rod and therod or bar on the axle, and

in lieu thereof we provide the spring pressure-rod with a roller affixedto its lower end, and we form or provide the upright bar on the axlewith a track on which the said roller can fit and run. The track canhave any inclination desired, so that the spring need not be permittedto expand after passing the deadcenter, but can still exert its fullforce. One material advantage of this arrangement is, that we arethereby enabled to maintain the pressure after the pressure-rod haspassed the dead-center in the direction required, when the shovels arelifted, and we are consequently able to produce a cultivator in whichthe shovel-beams are raised and held up above the ground by springsalone, thus dispensing with all hooking or fastening agencies hithertoemployed for the purpose. In connection with this arrangement we employregulating spring-rods, by adjusting which the pressure of thepressure-rods upon the shovels can be graduated and regulated toanieety.These and other features of our improvements can best be explained andunderstood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1is a perspective view of a cultivator embodying our improvements withthe shovetbeams down. Fig. 2 is a view with the shovel-beams up. Fig. 3is an enlarged side elevation of one of the track-standards, togetherwith one of the draft-couplings and one of the shovel-beam couplings,and the axle on which the same are fastened, the axle being intransverse section. Fig. 4 is an elevation of the two parts of thetrack-standard.

A is the axle. B are the two shovel-beams, with handles 0, and D is thetongue. These parts, together with their accessories, are of any usualor suitable construction, and require no detailed description.

Fast to the axle are the upright standards E, which form part of thesystem by which pressure is brought upon the shovel-beams. Upon the topsof these standards are tracks a, having a stop, I), at each end. Onthese tracks fit and move the peripherally-grooved rollers 0, carried insuitable bearings or housings on the lower ends of pressure-rods F,which rods pass at their upper ends through guides (I, attached to thetongue D or to brackets thereon. Surrounding the rods are stiff spiralpressurc-sp rings G, confined between the guides d and pins 6 on therods, which pins can be set up or down in different holes in the rods,so as to vary at will the initial pressure or compression of thesprings. The general shape or contour of the track is shown more plainlyin Figs. 3 and 4.. It is curvilinear, sloping upwardly on each side ofthe point where the roller rests when it is on the dead-center. Thetrack is longer and higher in front of this point than it is in rear,the object of this formation being to provide a track portion at thefront, on which the pressure-rod roller can act to the extent requisiteto raise and hold' the shovel-beams clear of the ground wheneverdesired, as indicated more clearly in Fig. 2. The upward inclination ofthe track to each side of the dead-center prevents expan- ICO sion ofthe pressure-spring after it passes the dead-center, and maintains saidspring in the compressed state requisite to cause it to exert andmaintain the needed pressure upon the shovel-beams. In other words, thearrangement is such that the distance between the point where thepressure-spring bears aga n t the guide d and the surfaceof the track onwhich the roller bears remains practically unchanged, no matter at whatpoint the roller may be on the track between the termini or stops 7).

Each pressure-rod below its spring is encircled by the loop of a rod, H,which I have hereinbefore termed a regulating springrod. Said rod passesthrough a guide, f, on a bracket attached to the tongue D, through whichguide it can slide orplay back and forth. Encircling the front end ofthe rod, and confined between the guide f and a nut, g, on the front endof the rod, is a spiral spring, h, the action of which can be adjustedand regulated by screwing the nut 9 toward or away from the guide. Theserods H exer- U cise a yielding pull on the pressure-rods in a forwarddirection, and serve to regulate the degree of pressure exerted by saidpressurerods. If, for instance, the soilis very loose and the shovels donot need much pressure on them, or if the shovels by their weight mighttend to run too deep and require some counteracting instrumentality tohold them up, all that is required is to tighten or screw down the nutsg on the rods H. By this means the springs h, when the beams aredepressed, are put under such compression as to pull upon thepressure-rods and prevent the rollers from moving too far back of thedead-center, thus holding the beams and shovels in such manner that thelatter will run shallow or merely touch the ground, and at the same timewill be under a very elastic spring-pressure.

Another function of the spring-regulating rods is to assist in theoperation of raising the shovel-beams from the position shown in Fig. lto that illustrated in Fig. 2. In this operation,when the shovel-beamsare lifted by hand a very short distance from the ground, thespring-rods H, by their pull on the pressurerods, cause the rollers totravel forward on the tracks beyond the dead-center,with the effect ofelevating and maintaining the beams in the position shown in Fig. 2.

It is desirable to make the tracks adjustable as to their pitch, inorder to vary the presssure on the shovels when they are down. Thisresult,manifestly, can be accomplished in various ways. One convenientarrangement for thepurpose is shown in Figs. 3 and 4. In thisarrangement each standard E is in two parts, the lower part, E, fast totheaxle, and the upper part, E, which carries the track, pivoted to thelower at z, and provided in its end, below the pivot, with a curvedslot, j, struck from the pivot-bolt '73 as a center, through whichpasses a clamping or tightening bolt, k, from the lower part, E. Thecontiguous faces of the two parts E E are rose-formed, or ribbed orserrated, so

.that when pressed together by the bolts 73 is they will interlock. Byloosening the bolts 2 7c the upper track-carrying part, E, can be tiltedso as to set the track at any pitch, and can then be secured in itsadjusted position by tightening the bolts.

Each shovel-beam is secured by a sleeve, m, to a vertical coupling-bolt,n, which swivels in a coupling-bracket, 0, attached to the axle in anyusual or suitable manner. The sleeve can slide up and down on the boltn, and is held in adjusted position thereon by the set-screw p. Inconnection with this device we employ an under-draft arrangement, asshown more plainly in Fig. 3, consisting of the draft-coupling 0", faston the axle, to which is connected below the axle the draft-coupling rodor link 8. The under-draft tends to force the shovels down, and theadjustable connection of the shovel-beam with itscoupling enables us tovary the pitch or inclination of the shovels.

Having now described our improvements, and the manner in which the sameare or may .be carried into effect, we remark, in conclusion, that we donot restrict ourselves to the details of construction and arrangement ofparts hereinbefore set forth, for it is manifest that the same can bewidely varied without essential departure from our invention; but

What we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. The combination of the shovel-beams or drag-bars and theirsupporting-frame, springpressure mechanism having its two partsconnected by a roller and track-joint, and springregulating mechanism,whereby the action of the spring-pressure mechanism is graduated andregulated, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

2. The combination of the shovel-beain'axle or shaft, the oscillatoryand sliding spring pressure-rod, and the standard fixed to said axle andconnected with said rod by a roller and track-joint, substantially asand for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

3. The combination of the axle or shaft, the spring pressure-rod; andstandard connected together by a roller and track-joint, and the springregulating-rod, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore setforth.

4.. The combination of the shovel-beams and their supporting-axle, thetrack -standards fixed to said axle, the spring pressure rods-providedwith rollers which bear and run on said tracks, and the springregulating-rods, under the arrangement and for joint operation ashereinbefore set forth.

5. The combination of the axle or shaft and the spring-pressuremechanism having one of its parts provided with a roller and the otherof its parts provided with a track for In testimony whereof we havehereunto set said roller, adjustable in pitch, substantially our handsthis 9th day of J nne, 1886.

as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth. SAMUEL N. HENCH.

6. The two-part adjustable track-standards XVALKER A. DROMGOLD. 5 E E,in combination with the axle and the Vitnesses:

spring pressure-rod and roller, substantially GEORGE E. KRABER,

as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth. CHAS. A. HAWKINS.

